Monitoring Library

Media Monitoring News Archives

December 2011: Issue 3

'Tis the season for review and prediction articles — and this week's issue of Media Monitoring News features the best of the lot on PR and marketing, along with other insightful articles on media monitoring, social media, consumer megatrends, and the future of newspapers.

CyberAlert Offers F.r*e.e Media Monitoring to Not-for-ProfitsApplication Deadline: December 31
In the 8th year of it's PR grants program, the CyberAlert media monitoring service is offering f.r*e.e. media monitoring service for one year to not-for-profit organizations.
The application deadline for the public relations grants is December 31, 2011. The Company will award news and social media monitoring grants to a minimum of 15 not-for-profit organizations.
More information is available at http://www.cyberalert.com/prgrants.html

Media Monitoring Checklist

The Measurement Standard
Before analysis and "measurement" comes "monitoring", the aggregation of media content to be measured. In the Media Monitoring Checklist, K.D. Paine outlines issues to be considered, choices to be made and questions to be answered about "monitoring" before you begin a "measurement" project or hire a measurement company. The checklist is thorough and thoughtful. First question to be answered: what is the purpose of the monitoring and measurement? That is, what business goal do you want to achieve?

The State of the Blogosphere

Brian Solis
A chapter from Brian Solis' book The End of Business as Usual,The State of the Blogosphere offers an in-depth look at the emergence and evolution of blogs, the demographics and current influence of bloggers and their future role in social media. Over the years (not so many, actually), blogs have formed the foundation of social media, democratizing the ability to publish thoughtful commentary, build a noteworthy community and equalize influence along the way. Blogs have given untrained consumers the power of the press, turning nobodies into somebodies.

Social Business Planning

Edelman
In this set of 67 slides entitled Social Business Planning, the Edelman Team of David Armano and Mike Kuczkowski provides deep insight into approaches to structure social media initiatives. This presentation is unusually thorough with first-rate analysis and superb guidance — fully comprehensible with just the slide copy and no narrative.

The Trap of Social Media Noise

Seth Godin's Blog
Recognized as one of the preeminent marketing gurus, Seth Godin argues in The Trap of Social Media Noise that social media looks like the ideal soapbox, a free opportunity to shout to the masses, but in fact, more noise is not better noise and numbers don't really count in social media. Pump and dump has little value in social media, he says. Better to have a smaller audience that cares. So don't bother measuring?

Why the Numbers Game Really Matters in Social Media

Forbes
Haydn Shaughnessy takes issue with Seth Godin's position on accruing numbers in social media in Why the Numbers Game Really Matters in Social Media, maintaining that measurement is vital to understand and improve ecosystems. His suggestion: in addition to "how many", count and measure "how rich", "how real", and "how active".

Buzzword Bingo: 12 Words That Need to Die in 2012

Jessica Malnick
In Buzzword Bingo: 12 Words That Need to Die in 2012, Jessica Malnick identifies cringe-worthy buzzwords that should be banned from business presentations, news releases, and other corporate promotion. How many of the words have appeared in the first paragraph of your press releases in the past year?

The 10 Worst Media Disasters of 2011

Mr. Media Training (Brad Phillips)
In the season where review articles proliferate, it's kind of fun (and a bit cringe-worthy) to look back on The 10 Worst Media Disasters of 2011. Politicians dominate the list: Cain, Palin, Perry, Weiner. But let's not forget Murdock, Sheen, and Penn State.

Top PR Blunders of 2011

Fineman PR (PR Newswire)
The 17th Annual Top 10 PR Blunders List, compiled by San Francisco's Fineman PR, features blunders by organizations that were unprepared, undecided, unconscious, unfair and uninformed, and all of them preventable. Cross-reference to the list of Worst Media Disasters for the obvious perpetrators and mix in Bank of America, Netflix (Quickster), Los Angeles Dodgers and a couple of others.

The Top 10 Best and Worst Communicators of 2011

Ragan.com
More of the same in The Top 10 Best and Worst Communicators of 2011 — but with the "good guys" including Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Howard Schultz, Chris Christy (New Jersey), Lady Gaga and Andy Rooney (assuming grumpy can be good communication — RIP).

10 PR Predictions for 2012

Ink House
In addition to review articles, 'tis the season for prediction articles. 10 PR Predictions for 2012 divines diminishing use of infographics, greater use of phone calls in media relations, the deflation of the "influence bubble", and growth of PR measurement.

Marketing Profs
More than four in five marketing executives (82%) say they expect campaigns to be measured, yet few can effectively evaluate the ROI of key channels such as public relations (18%), search engine optimization (SEO) (24%), and social media (26%), according to Metrics & ROI: Most Marketers Can't Measure ROI of SEO or Social Media, based on a survey from Ifbyphone.

Pros & Cons of Letting PR Pros Tweet for You

Financial Times (UK)
In the wake of the Ashton Kutcher imbroglio on Twitter, Financial Times asked three experts Should Twitter Feeds Be Handled by PRs?. Outcome: 2 Nay, 1 Yea. Rational: Nay says it impedes intimacy and authenticity. Yea says firewall is beneficial.

CMO.com
While most marketers and PR professionals focus on their internal challenges, it's wise to look at the macro picture. 10 Consumer Megatrends That Will Impact Your Marketing Strategy identifies big-picture issues that all communications staff must consider in formulating corporate strategy. Among the megatrends: slow growth, population demographics, advanced analytics, real time customer decision-making, market penetration of mobile, and more.

Report: Most Newspapers Will Fold within Five Years

MediaBistro
Avid readers of newspapers will be saddened by a report from USC that Most Newspers Will Fold within Five Years. Only four major newspapers will survive: The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal. 'Wanna Bet?